Milner handcuffed him and had him sit in a cruiser with the door ajar as other officers
arrived on May 28.

Milner was responding to a burglary call on nearby Hilltop Trail Drive, and was told by
dispatchers that a neighbor had called in a teenage boy as a suspicious person.

A house in the neighborhood had been broken into between 8:30 a.m. and 12:40 p.m., when the
homeowner discovered the door kicked in.

Mike Ebert, a neighbor of that homeowner, called police, saying he didn’t see anyone on the
sidewalk when he went into the burglarized home’s backyard, but when he came back out about 20
seconds later, Brandon was walking in front of the house.

In his 911 call, Ebert said Brandon might not have anything to do with the burglary but
looked suspicious.

Brandon was detained less than 12 minutes before officers told the boy he was no longer a
suspect. Sgt. Tyrone Hollis, who responded after Brandon was handcuffed, recognized him from his
son’s football team and gave him a ride to practice at New Albany High School.

Brandon’s mother, Jo Brandon-Jones, filed an internal-affairs complaint alleging excessive
force by Milner. In her interview with investigators, she said she didn’t think the stop by the
officer was racially motivated. Both Milner and Brandon are black.

Milner, a nearly 17-year veteran of the Columbus Police Division, had reasonable suspicion to
detain Brandon and to pull his weapon to protect himself, wrote Sgt. John Standley, of the
internal-affairs bureau. Milner was approaching a suspect in a felony burglary and having his
firearm at the ready is an accepted law-enforcement practice, he wrote.

But Brandon-Jones said today that she thinks officers had other options.

“The police officers minimized what happened to my child and maximized Mr. Ebert and Officer
Milner’s safety over Xzavier’s,” she said. “How many people do they do this to every day and
traumatize them, and just send them on their way without an apology and explanation?”

For his part, Brandon said he’s focusing on football and school – he’s a junior at New Albany
High School – though he still would like an apology.

He said he knows the situation could have ended much differently.

“At any moment in time, the wrong gesture can be made by someone who is innocent, and they
can be shot and killed,” he said.

Hollis, in his interview, told investigators that it was reasonable for Milner to have his
weapon, but also said he felt bad for Brandon and his family, calling the boy an outstanding
person.

“We investigate things and come across good people who are in the right place at the wrong
time,” he said. “I feel it’s just a total misunderstanding and wish I could make it right, because
I don’t feel Officer Milner did anything wrong or malicious to hurt Mr. Brandon.”